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Staff were found asleep or locked in offices during an inspection at the start of this month.

Mr Clarke’s team found that blatant use of illegal substances went largely unchallenged amid a “looming lack of control”.

At one point, staff were said to have shrugged when inspectors pointed out that drugs were being smoked.

Yesterday, one former inmate, waiting for a relative to pick him up after being released from a six-week sentence, said: “It’s fair to say most of the prisoners are terrified in there – but the screws are even more terrified than the prisoners.

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“I’m surprised it has taken so long for the inspectors to do something. There are drugs everywhere. The place is a joke.”

Another man, in his 20s, said: “Drugs have taken over the prison and G4S has just let it happen.

“The prisoners were in control and it doesn’t feel safe.” A third inmate being freed from the jail’s main gate said he believed prisoners had gained more influence since a 15-hour riot in 2016.

G4S, which has run the jail on a £30million, 15-year contract since 2011, welcomed the six month “step-in” by the Ministry of Justice, saying the wellbeing and safety of prisoners and staff are its key priorities.

policPolice were drafted in to restore some order (Image: SWNS )

Mr Clarke said yesterday: “There are MoJ officials on site permanently and yet somehow there seems to have been some sort of institutional inertia that has allowed this prison to deteriorate.”

David Todd, of the Prison Officers’ Association, said the Government takeover will “absolutely” make the prison safer.

He said: “At least 35 public sector prison officers are going in on detached duty, to support those G4S officers.”

He estimated a turnaround in the condition of the prison “within a six-month period”. A new governor has also been drafted in.